Inseam shoe-sewing machine



J. E. THAY ER. INSEAM SHOESEW ING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 6,1917.

1,339,633. v I Patented May 11,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

J. E. THAYER. INSEAM SHOE SEWING" MACHINE. I APPLICATION FILED JULY 6, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented May 11,1920.

rnvrrnn STATES PATENT ornron.

JOSEPH E. THAY'ER, OF'W'EST BRTDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, 'B'Y MESNE ASSIGNMENTSTO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, 'OF 'PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

INSEAM SHOE-SEWING MACHINE.

Application filed July 6,

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 7 I r This invention relates to machines for securing together the partslof shoes and es pecially to machines for sewing together the V to sever the welt.

welt, upper and insole of 'a welted shoe.

The invention relates particularly to 1111- provements in the devices for gripping the welt and for severingthe same intermediate the shoe and the supply at the completion of the sewing of a seam, and for holding the free end of the welt at the beginning of a seam.

T he invention is designed an improvement on machines having welt gripping and cutting devices of the type illustrated and described in the patent to Topham No. 1,099,326, dated June 9, 1914, but is notlimited in its application to the particular construction and arrangement of the parts of the welt gripping and cutting devices illustrated and described in said patent. i l The primary object of the invention is to provide shoe sewing machines for sewing together the welt, upper and insole of a welted shoe, with weltgripping and welt severing devices having a simplified construction and improved mode of operation.

Welt gripping and welt severing devices of the type illustrated and describedinthe above Topham patent comprise a gripper bar or slide mounted to slide longitudinally in suitable guides in a carrier, and having the welt gripping jaws mounted uponthe forward end thereof, and a knife bar or slide mounted in the carrier bythe side of the gripper bar to slide longitudinally with the gripper bar or independently of the gripper bar. and having a knife for severing the welt i lounted on the forward end thereof. During the greater part of the operation of Specification of Letters Patent.

particularly as Patented May 11, 1920.

1917'. Serial No. 178,902.

sewing a seam about the shoe the gripper bar and knife bar are both retracted so that the gripping jaws and knife will not interfere with the manipulation of the shoe. After the machine has been stopped at the completion of the seam and the shoe is moved forward to draw the welt through .the welt guide preparatory to removing the shoe from the machine, the gripper bar and knife bar are advanced together to place the gripping jaws upon oppositesides of the welt, and the knife bar is then advanced independently of the gripper bar to cause the gripping jaws to grip the Welt and to impart the cutting stroke to the knife 7 After the end of the Welt is attached to the shoe by the first stitch upon starting the machine, the knife baris retracted independently of the gripper bar to allow the gripping jaws to release the welt, and the knife bar and gripper bar are then moved back together to retracted positions. The mechanism for actuating the gripper bar and knife bar of ,welt gripping and cutting mechanisms of this type hereto-fore embodied in commercial machines has been somewhat complicated in construction, expensive to manufacture and has been subject to frequent breakage. Constructions have been devised which comprise a latch, or coupling dog,operating to connect the gripper bar with the knife bar during the first part of the forward movement of the knife bar so that the gripper bar is advanced by the movement of the knife bar, to release the gripper bar from the knife bar during the last part of the advancing movement of the gripper bar and allow the knife bar'to advance independently of the gripper bar and to' connect, or latch, the gripper bar to the carrier and thereby hold the gripper bar stationary during the first part of the retracting movement of the knife bar. Applicant has improved the construction of prior mechanisms by the provision of a construction comprising a coupling device of this character whiclris ektremeley simple in construction, reliable in operation and is not subject to breakage or derangement.

The invention will be readily understood from V the accompanying drawings illustrating a machine embodying the invention in its preferred form, and the following de tailed description of the constructions therein shown.

In the' drawings, Figure 1 is a view, in side elevation, of a shoe sewing machine embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a detail plan view, partly in horizontal section, illustrating the welt gripping and welt severing mechanism with the gripper bar and cutter bar in retracted positions; Fig. 3 is a detail view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, illustrating the welt gripping and welt severing mechanism with the parts in the same positions as in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detail view, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section,

illustrating the welt gripping and severing mechanism with the gripper bar and cutter bar in advanced positions; Fig.5 is a detail view, in side elevation, partly in vertical section, illustrating the welt gripping and cutting mechanism with the parts in the same positions, as in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a detail view, in horizontal section, illustrating a portion of the welt gripping and welt severing mechanism; and Fig. 7 is a detail view, in rear elevation, illustrating the welt gripping and welt severing mechanism.

The machine illustrated in the drawings, with the exception of the changes in the welt gripping and welt severing mechanism hereinafter described, has substantially the same construction and arrangement of parts and the same mode of operation as the machine illustrated and described in the patent to Topham referred to above. The machine comprises an oscillating curved hook needle 2, an oscillating curved work-feeding awl f a looper 6, a thread finger 8, a welt guide 10, and a back rest 12. All of the operating parts of the machine are driven from a main shaft 14. The machine is also provided with mechanism thrown into operation when the main driving mechanism is thrown out for slowing down and finally stopping the for ward rotation of the main shaft, for reversing the rotation thereof to cause the needle to retract with empty hook, and for finally bringing the main shaft to rest with the needle retracted out of engagement with the work. This mechanism comprises a clutch member 16 mounted to rotate with the shaft 14, a cooperating clutch member 18, a spiral gear 20 formed on the clutch member 18, a continuously rotating spiral pinion 22 mounted on the shaft 2% and meshing with the spiral gear 20 for continuously driving the spiral gear, a pulley 26 fixed to the shaft 24, and a belt 28 for rotating the pulley. The construction, arrangement and mode of operation of the parts briefly referred to above are substantially the same as the corresponding parts of the machine illustrated and described in the Topham patent referred to above, and reference may be had to the said patent for a full and complete description of the same.

The welt gripping and welt severing devices of the machine comprise a pair of welt gripping jaws 30 and 32 carried at the forward end of a gripper bar 34 mounted to slide longitudinally in suitable guides in a pivoted carrier 36, and a welt cutting knife 38 secured to the forward end of a cutter bar 40 mounted to slide longitudinally in guides in the gripper bar. At all times except at the beginning of the sewing of a seam, the welt gripping jaws and welt cutting knife are held in retracted positions, as shown in F igs.- 1, 2 and 3, so as not to interfere with the manipulation of the shoe. After the sewing operation has been c0mp d the machine brought to rest, the welt gripping jaws are advanced to locate them upon opposite sides of the welt intermediate the shoe and the welt guide,are closed upon the welt to grip the same, and the knife is then advanced to sever the welt. The welt gripping jaws remain in advanced position and iold the welt end at the beginning of the sewing of the seam until one or more stitches have been formed to attach the welt end to the shoe, after which the knife is retracted, the gripping jaws open to release the welt, and the knife and the gripping jaws are moved back to their initial retracted positions. The gripping jaw 30 is fixed on and preferably formed integral with the gripper bar, while the gripping jaw 82 is formed on la lever 41 pivotally supported on the gripper ar by an eccentric pivot pin 12 which may e turned to adjust the jaw 32 with relation 0 the jaw 30. The knife bar 40 is formed with a cam surface 4-1 arranged to engage the spring arm 46 formed on the rear end of the lever 41 to actuate the lever to close the welt gripping jaws.

The knife bar is advanced and retracted by means of a pinion l8 secured to the vertical shaft 50 and engaging the teeth of a rack 52 formed on the rear end of the knife bar. The mechanism for actuating the shaft 50 to advance and retract the knife bar and gripper bar in the present machine has substantially the same construction and mode of operation as the mechanism for oscillating the corresponding shaft of the machine illustrated and described in the Topham patent referred to above. To enable the invention to be more readily understood certain parts of this mechanism are briefly described herein. The shaft 50 is oscillated to advance and retract the knife bar through a gear segment 54: meshing with a bevel pinion 56 carried at the upper end of the shaft 50. The gear segment 54.- is formed at the end of an arm 58 secured to a rock shaft 60, to which is secured a second arm 62 pivotally connected at 6 1 with an eccentric strap 66 which surrounds and is operated by an intermittently operating eccentric formed on a sleeve mounted to turnfreely about the hub of the continuously rotating spiral gear 20. The eccentric is intermittently rotated through a half of a revolution by means of a clutch which is tripped by mechanism operated by a pull on the welt leading from the shoe to the supply as illustrated and described in the said Topham patent, No. 1,099,326. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the relative positions of the gripper bar and cutter bar when both of the bars are located in their limiting retracted positions The gripper bar and cutter bar occupy the relative positions shown in these figures as .they are advanced to place the welt gripping jaws upon opposite sides of the welt between the shoe and the welt guide. After the gripper bar reaches its forward limiting position. the cutter bar advances independently of the gripper bar to close the welt gripping jaws and to sever the welt. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the gripper bar and cutter bar both in their limiting forward positions. During the retracting movement of the gripper bar,

and .the cutter bar the cutter bar retracts independently of the gripper bar until it reaches substantially the position relative to the cutter bar shown in Figs) and 3, and the gripper bar is then retracted with the cutter bar.

The longitudinal forward movement of the gripper bar is imparted thereto from the forward movement of the cutter bar by means of a latch or coupling dog consisting in the illustrated construction of a ball 68 mounted in an opening 7 0 in one side of the gripper bar, and arranged to engage either in a recess 7 2 in the cutter bar or in a recess 7 41 in the carrier 36. The recesses 72 and 74 are of a depthslightly less than the radius of the ball, so that the tendency of the cut-- ter bar to move independently of the gripper bar will tend to throw the ball out of the recess 72, and that the tendency of the gripper bar to move longitudinally in the carrier 36 will tend to throw the ball out of the recess 74. The opening'70 in the gripper bar and the recess 72 in the cutter bar are located so that when the cutter bar is in its limiting retracted position relatively to the gripper bar, the opening will register with the recess. When both the gripper bar and cutter bar are in retracted positions, the latch ball 68 is engaged in the opening 70 in the gripper bar and in the recess 72 in the cutter bar,,and is prevented from moving out of the recess 72by the face of the guide in the carrier 36, in which the gripper bar slides. lVith the ball engaged in the opening 70 in the gripper bar and in the recess 72 in the cutter bar, the gripper bar, is latched to the cutter bar by the ball, and will be moved forwardly by the cutter bar during the first part of the forward movement of the cutter bar. The recess 74 in the carrier 36 is located so that it will register with thevopening 70 in the gripper bar when the gripper bar is in its limiting forward position. The limiting forward position of the gripper bar is determined by .a stop screw 76 threaded into the rear end of the gripper bar, the head of which is arranged to engage the rear end of the carrier 36. Fig. (5 shows the relative positions of the parts at the end of the forward movement of the gripper bar just before the cutter bar starts to move forwardly independently of the gripper bar. As the cutter bar reaches its limiting forward position, and the cut-' ter bar starts to move forward independently of the gripper bar, the movementof the cutter bar will force the latch ball 68 out of the recess 72 in the cutter bar and into the recess 74 in the carrier .36, allowing the cutter bar to continue its forward movement independently of the gripper bar. During the first part of the retracting movement of the cutter bar the gripper bar is held stationary by the engagement of the latch ball 68 in the opening 70 in the gripper bar and in the recess 74 in the carrier, the ball being prevented from moving out of the recess 74: by the engagement of the adjacent face of the cutter bar therewith. The cutter bar is formed with a shoulder 78 for engagement with the head of the screw 76 to retract the gripper .bar with the cutter bar during the latter part of the retracting movement of the cutter bar. The parts are constructed and arranged so that as the shoulder 7 8 en gages the head of the screw 76 the recess "2 in the cutter bar registers with the opening 70 in the gripper bar and the ball 68 is then disengaged from the recess 74 in the carrier 36, and is engaged in the recess 72 in the cutter bar by. the rearward movement of the gripper bar.

lVhile the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a machine for sewing welts and uppers to the insoles of welted shoes and as applied to devices for gripping and severing the welt after the sewing of the seam, certain features of the invention may be embodied in other shoe machines and may be applied with advantage to mechanisms for performing other operations. It is, therefore, to be understood that the invention except as defined in the claims is not limited to any particular class or type of machine or to mechanism for performing any particular operation.

Having explained the nature and object of the invention, and having specifically described mechanism embodying the invention in its preferred form, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for sewing inseams' of welted shoes, having in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a gripper slide bar, a cutter slide bar, a coupling device loosely mounted in an opening in one of the slide bars and arranged to be automatically actuated and controlled by the movement of the slide bars so as to engage and disengage the other slide bar to connect and disconnect the slide bars.

2. A machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a gripper slide bar, a cutter slide bar, a coupling device loosely mounted in an opening in one of the slide bars and automatically actuated and controlled by the movement of the slide bars to engage alternatively the other slide bar to connect the slide bars, and a fixed abutment to hold the first slide bar stationary during movement of the other slide bar.

3. A machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a carrier, a gripper slide bar mounted in the carrier, a cutter slide bar mounted in the carrier, and a coupling device arranged to be thrown into position to connect one of the bars to the carrier by the movement of the other bar relative to the first bar, and to be thrown into position to connect the bars together by the movement of the first bar relative to the carrier.

4. A machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a carrier, a gripper slide bar mounted in the carrier, a cutter slide bar mounted in the carrier, and a coupling device operating to connect the gripper slide bar with the cutter slide bar during the first part of the advancing movement of the cutter slide bar, and to connect the gripper slide bar to the carrier during the first part of the retracting movement of the cutter slide bar arranged to be thrown into position to connect the gripper slide bar to the carrier by the movement of the cutter slide bar independently of the gripper slide bar, and to be thrown into position to connect the slide bars together by the movement of the gripper slide bar relative to the carrier.

5. A machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a carrier, a gripper slide bar mounted in the carrier, a cutter slide bar mounted in the carrier, a coupling device loosely mounted in an opening in one of the slide bars and arranged to engage the other slide bar to connect the same with the first slide bar, and a retaining surface formed on the carrier for retaining the coupling device in engagement with the second slide bar, arranged to release the coupling device at a certain point in the movement I of the bars.

-6. A, machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a carrier, a gripper slide bar mountedin the carrier, a cutter slide bar mounted in the carrier, a coupling device loosely mounted in an opening in one of the slide bars and arranged to engage alternatively the other slide bar so as to connect the slide bars together, and the car rier so as to connect the first slide bar te the carrier, a retaining surface formed on the carrier for retaining the coupling device in engagement with the second slide bar, arranged to release the'coupling device at acertain point in the movement of the slide bars, and a retaining surface formed on the second slide bar for retaining the 5' coupling device in engagement with the carrier, arranged to release the coupling device at a certain point in the movement of the second slide bar.

7. A machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices'comprising a gripper slide bar, a cutter slide bar, and a coupling device loosely mounted in one of the slide bars, and means for operating and controlling the coupling device to cause the same to connect and disconnect the slide bars.

8. A machine for sewing inseams of welted shoes, having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt gripping and severing devices comprising a gripper slide bar, a cutter slide bar, a coupling device loosely mounted in one of the slide bars, and means for operating and controlling the coupling device to cause the same to connect and disconnect the slide bars, and to hold one of the slide bars stationary during movement of the other slide bar.

9. A machine for securing together the parts of shoes having, in combination, securing mechanism, a support, a slide bar mounted in the support, an actuating slide bar mounted in the support, a coupling device loosely mounted in one of the slide bars and arranged to be actuated and controlled automatically by the movement of the slide bars to connect and disconnect the slide vice loosely mounted in one of the slide bars and arranged to be actuated and controlled automatically by the movement of the slide bars to connect and disconnect the slide bars and to hold the first slide bar stationary in the support during a portion of the movement of the actuating slide bar, and devices for operating on the Work carried by one of the slide bars arranged to be moved into and out of operative position by the movement of the slide bars together and to tion by the relative movement of the slide bars.

11. A machine for securing together the parts of shoes having, in combination, securing mechanism, a support, a slide bar mounted in the support, an actuating slide bar mounted in the support, a coupling device loosely mounted in one of the slide bars and arranged to be actuated and controlled be actuated to perform their operaautomatically by the movement of the slide bars and operating to connect the slide bars during the first part 01": the movement of the actuating slide bar in one direction, to disconnect the slide bars and allow the actuating slide bar to continue its movement in said direction independently of the first slide bar, to hold the first slide bar stationary in the support during the first part of the movement of the actuating slide bar in the reverse direction, and to release the first slide bar during the last part of the movement of the actuating slide bar in the latter direction, and devices for operating on the Work carried by one of the slide bars and arranged to be moved into and out of operative position by the movement of the slidebars together and to be actuated to perform their operation by the relative movement of the slide bars.

JOSEPH E. THAYER. 

